历史上的今天-Today in History 2013-04-15

 April 15th, 1912, just hours after hitting an iceberg¹, the Titanic² sinks off the coast of Newfoundland. About 1,500 people on board the British luxury liner perish in the waters of the icy North Atlantic.

1865, President Abraham Lincoln dies in Washington, hours after John Wilkes Booth shoots and mortally wounds him at Ford’s Theater. Vice³ President Andrew Johnson succeeds Lincoln in the White House.

1947, “Did you see Jackie Robinson hit that ball?It went zoomin cross the left field wall. Yeah boy, yes, yes. Jackie hit that ball.”Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American player in major league baseball. His debut⁴ with Brooklyn Dodgers⁵ shatters baseball’s decades-old racial barrier.

1986, the United States launches an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a disco in what’s then West Berlin, Germany. Libya says 37 people, mostly civilians⁶, are killed in the raid.

1986, the United States launches an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a disco in what’s then West Berlin, Germany. Libya says 37 people, mostly civilians, are killed in the raid.

1998, Pol Pot, leader of the Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge⁷, dies of natural causes along the border with Thailand at age 73. He evades prosecution⁸ for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians under his brutal⁹ regime during the 1970s.

And 2001 Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to gooooI wanna be sedatedIn New York, punk rocker Joey Ramone, lead singer of the Ramone dies of lymphoma at age 49.

1 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

2 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 dodgers   

n.躲闪者，欺瞒者( dodger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a crackdown on fare dodgers on trains 对火车逃票者的严厉打击
• But Twain, Howells, and James were jeeringly described by Mencken as "draft-dodgers". 不过吐温、豪威尔斯和詹姆斯都是被门肯讥诮地叫做“逃避兵役的人。” 来自辞典例句

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。